{"id":5399,"date":"2009-08-15T13:18:32","date_gmt":"2009-08-15T05:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/?p=5399"},"modified":"2009-08-15T13:18:32","modified_gmt":"2009-08-15T05:18:32","slug":"interview-with-waythamoorty-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/indian\/2009\/08\/15\/interview-with-waythamoorty-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Waythamoorty part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/malaysiakini.com\/news\/110610\" target=\"_blank\">interview appears<\/a> in Malaysiakini. Second part to appear tomorrow. The problem with the interview is the status of suit, which Waytha claims as being in &#8220;status-quo&#8221;. Meaning its still a suit and no writ has been served on the defendants. So, what&#8217;s next. At least he should clarified on the next steps &#8211; continue with the suit or not.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>&#8216;Why I filed the suit againt the  British&#8217;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>In this first part of an exclusive interview in London with Malaysiakini,  Hindraf chairperson Waythamoorthy talks about his struggle for the betterment of  the Indian community, the civil suit, his ties with Pakatan and the Nov 25 rally  that changed the Malaysian political landscape.<br \/>\n<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>Your civil  suit in 2007 propelled Hindraf into prominence. What made you file a suit  against the British and not the Malaysian government?<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">They  Indians have suffered tremendous injustices. I researched the history of the  country&#8217;s independence and discovered that the British colonial governance was  the root of the Indian predicament in Malaysia. The British, through its East  India Company, brought in thousands of Indians from India as indentured  labourers.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">They failed to safeguard the interests and rights of Indians  when the British drafted the Malayan Federal Constitution prior to the  independence.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Because the constitution was  vague, Indians remained colonialised by the Umno government.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The <a href=\"\/news\/72336\"><strong>Indians were exploited<\/strong><\/a> for nearly 150  years by the British and thereafter by the Umno-controlled federal government  for over 50 years until today. Therefore the British colonial government was the  root of the problem. So I told the Indians that they should go after the  British. Since I had no confidence in the independence of the country&#8217;s  judiciary, I filed the civil <strong><a href=\"\/opinionsfeatures\/72964\">suit<\/a> <\/strong>against the British.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I claimed \u00a31 million for each of the  estimated 1.8 million Indians in Malaysia in damages for the suffering of their  forefathers and the present generation. Based on this, the <em>AFP<\/em> report  summed up my claims at US$4 trillion.<br \/>\nThe <em>AFP<\/em> report became  international news.\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>What&#8217;s the status of the suit  now?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I filed the civil action on the eve of Malaysian  50<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary of independence. But I have not served the writ on  the defendant, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It should have been  done within three months of filing the case. I could not serve it because I did  not have English solicitors and barristers to do so. I need a legal team to  proceed with the suit.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I filed the action as a symbolic gesture with the  intention of serving it to the defendant. I was hoping by handing over the  letter of appeal, which had 130,000 signatures, to Her Majesty the British Queen  via the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25, I would be able to  secure free services of Queen&#8217;s counsels and solicitors to pursue the case  further at the British courts.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">However, my effort was spoilt by the  Malaysian government and the police. The authorities, not Hindraf, turned an  originally pre-planned peaceful march to the British High Commission into an  anti-government rally. As a result, the status of my suit remains as it is,  pre-Nov 25.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>It&#8217;s not an overstatement then to say that your civil  suit shot Hindraf to prominence?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I would not agree with that  assessment because my civil suit was filed in my personal capacity. It has  nothing to do with Hindraf. But, since I&#8217;m Hindraf chairperson, public  perception swiftly linked the suit to Hindraf, and I eventually adopted it. It  put Hindraf at forefront of the Malaysian civil rights movement. The suit opened  up the eyes, ears and minds of the Indian community on their legitimate rights,  interests and benefits they are entitled to. They had been engulfed by a  colonial mindset up until then.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Although the majority of the younger  generation does not have the mindset, over the years they have been instilled by  their parents and the Umno government that Indians are migrants and squatters in  Malaysia. Indians have been frequently told that they don&#8217;t deserve equality,  fairness and just policies. Article 8 of the Federal Constitution stipulates  clearly that all citizens shall be treated equally.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Therefore the suit  actually raised the issue of citizenry rights and what Indians justly deserve  and were entitled to.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Why did Hindraf hold a nationwide road  show?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">We conducted the road show due to overwhelming public  interest in the civil suit. They wanted to know more about what it meant for  them. I never thought it would attract such large crowds. I was surprised by the  thousands who turned up. The people trusted Hindraf. They saw a different breed  of activists. They knew that we were genuine, honest and sincere in fighting for  their rights, something that the Indians never had all this  while.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>What you plan to achieve for Malaysian Indians from your  suit? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It&#8217;s an interesting and unprecedented suit. It will open  the floodgates. I don&#8217;t want to reveal just what my plan are. But a close  perusal of my writ and statement will give you an indication of what my civil  suit is capable of achieving.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>What was the Nov 25 rally all  about?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The rally was originally planned as a peaceful march to  handover an appeal letter to the British Queen. However, the Umno government  turned it into an <a href=\"\/news\/75315\"><strong>anti-government  rally<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Firstly the police rejected our application for a  permit to hold the march. My letters for a meeting with the IGPolice Musa Hassan  to explain the march were ignored. Then the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime  Minister, Home Minister, the IGP and Attorney General issued a series of media  statements to warn Malaysian Indians against attending the rally.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">They  threatened and intimidated the public with jail and detention without any  reason. That was their mistake. This angered Malaysian Indians who have been  unhappy for far too long. They wanted to show solidarity and support to the  civil suit.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The government had also locked  down Kuala Lumpur for four days prior to the rally.<br \/>\nIndians were denied entry  into the city. Even those working in Kuala Lumpur had a hard time getting into  the city.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Then the government followed it up by arresting me, my brother  Uthayakumar and Ganabatirau on Nov 23. We were charged with sedition. This  provoked the Indians.<br \/>\nI initially expected only about 5,000 Indians to turn  up at the rally. But it ended up with tens of thousands thronging into the  city.\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">So the Umno government was at fault for turning a simple  straightforward peaceful event into an ugly and <a href=\"\/news\/75473\"><strong>brutal<\/strong><\/a> anti-government rally. The  Indians then realised that the government agenda&#8217;s was to stop us from handing  over the letter.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Why you think the government resisted the  rally?<\/strong><br \/>\nMy guess is that the Umno government got worried when it  received intelligence reports pointing out that Indians across the country were  united in fighting for their rights.\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Umno did not want this because the  government would face difficulties in handling a united Indian community. Umno  was<strong> <a href=\"\/letters\/75348\">worried<\/a><\/strong> that the government  would lose its popularity and relevance among Indians in the country. That&#8217;s the  reason why I think the Umno government went out of way to clampdown on the  rally.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>When you were detained and charged with sedition, you  refused bail. Why?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It was a protest to send a clear message to  the government that Indians no longer feared intimidation and imprisonment.  Secondly, since the city was locked down, I wanted to compel the government to  allow Indians to come into Kuala Lumpur peacefully. We were charged with  sedition because the government wanted to instil fear as a way of intimidating  the Indians that something bad would befall on them if they attend the rally on  Nov 25.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">So I wanted to send a signal to the authorities that the days of  Umno government instilling fear on Indians were over. I&#8217;m told I was the  country&#8217;s first human rights lawyer to voluntarily refuse bail and stayed in  jail and go on a hunger strike. I was sending a clear message we don&#8217;t fear the  prison and the days of criminal intimidation on Indian were over. We are a new  breed of Indian activists who are prepared to face any consequence to uphold  truth and justice.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>You stayed in jail for four days and missed  the rally. Would you like to narrate your experience in  jail?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">During the <a href=\"\/news\/75216\"><strong>four-day  imprisonment<\/strong><\/a> in Sungai Buloh, I was jailed in the maximum security  cell unit meant for suspects of serious crimes such as murder and drug  traffickng. Mine was a special cell, small, filthy, full of insects, without air  circulation and a locked in by a thick door. It was extremely bright with a  special flickering light. Some of insects were of species that I have never seen  in my life.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I was inhaling and exhaling the same air. On the second day  they deliberately stopped tap water supply to the filthy toilet in my cell. I  believe that I was deliberately put into it because the authorities wanted to  teach me a lesson.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There were other kinds of torture and threats which I  don&#8217;t wish to reveal at this point in time because I&#8217;m planning to comeback  home. Even though I underwent tremendous torture, when I was taken to court on  the morning of Nov 26, I told the jail director that I would come back to the  cell later that evening because I planned to refuse my bail  further.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">However, I was surprised by the court&#8217;s decision<strong> to <a href=\"\/news\/75306\">discharge<\/a><\/strong> me not amounting to an acquittal.<br \/>\n<strong>How did you sneak out of the country during the police clampdown  on Hindraf activists?<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I don&#8217;t think I sneaked out. I believe the  government planned the clampdown much later after I had left the country.  Following my release on Nov 26, I had nightmares of the torture and could not  sleep at night. I was mentally disturbed by the memories of my four-day  imprisonment. I was restless and did not have a peace of mind.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">On Nov 27,  I decided to go to India for my annual pilgrimage to regain my physical and  mental strength. I normally do this in early December. I got my visa on Nov 27  and left for India the next day. My initial plan was to stay in India for a  week.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A few days after I left for India, allegations linking Hindraf with  the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers surfaced. Although Uthayakumar and I denied such  links, the media was not with us.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Uthayakumar suggested that since I was already in India, I should start my  international lobby to garner global support for Hindraf and its legitimate  struggle. So I started my international lobby in India and finally ended up  going to England.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The government linked Hindraf with the  Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Any comments on it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">IGP  Musa and the Attorney General Gani Patail maliciously wanted to brand Hindraf as  a terror organisation linked to terrorists. They cooked up the story to justify  the subsequent arrest of the Hindraf five under ISA.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>When you  realised your passport was revoked, how you managed to seek political asylum  from the British government?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I found out that my passport was  revoked by the Malaysian government when I returned to Britain from Geneva on  April 19, 2008. The Malaysian government&#8217;s intention was to prevent me from  carrying out my international human rights lobby.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Under the British  immigration law, I was supposed to be deported back to my last port of entry &#8211;  Geneva. I decided to exercised my rights stipulated in the Geneva Convention to  seek British political asylum. On April 21, I applied for political asylum and  the British authorities processed my application the same day.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The  authorities sought more evidence to back my application. Through the help of a  Queen&#8217;s counsel, I managed to appoint a solicitor to manage my application. A  month later I was interviewed formally and in three months, my application was  granted.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Isn&#8217;t it strange that the British government granted you  asylum while you are suing the same government for neglecting Indians in <\/strong><strong>Malaysia<\/strong><strong>?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><\/strong><br \/>\nThat&#8217;s  the beauty of British governance.<strong> <\/strong>The British government knows  how to differentiate between a political asylum and a civil suit.<strong> <\/strong>The civil suit is my personal right while my request for asylum was a  matter of justice.<strong> <\/strong>It&#8217;s only just for the British government to  grant my application.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The Nov 25 rally was hailed by many as the  catalyst to the political tsunami that swept Malaysian electoral politics on  March 8, 2008. Any comment?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><\/strong><br \/>\nHindraf never  planned the rally to create a political tsunami. We least expected it. It&#8217;s the  Umno government fault to turn the <a href=\"\/letters\/99375\"><strong>event  ugly<\/strong><\/a>. Assuming that the government had allowed us to handover the  appeal letter and returned home safely, the Indians would have been only  excited, that&#8217;s all. The hardline action taken on Hindraf activists before and  after the rally, and the police&#8217;s brutal action on that day angered not just  Indians but all decent Malaysians and it translated into anti-BN  votes.\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Why did Hindraf decide to support and subsequently called  on Indians to vote for Pakatan Rakyat during the general election in  2008?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There was a groundswell of Indians demanding an electoral  stand. Then we held the <a href=\"\/news\/78152\"><strong>Rose Rally<\/strong><\/a> during Valentine&#8217;s Day celebration in February. A few days before the rally,  parliament was dissolved. The Umno government again reacted brutally against  peaceful demonstrators holding roses. Like Nov 25, chemical spraying and tear  gasses marred the rally. That was the final nail in Umno&#8217;s coffin.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Indians were asking why the  government did not treat them as children of Malaysia. When they asked for my  advice, I told them that Indians have suffered enough under Umno&#8217;s  discrimination and brutality. The Rose Rally was a message of <a href=\"\/news\/78137\"><strong>love and peace<\/strong><\/a>. But we were treated  badly by our very own government.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I told them to vote against BN enbloc.  Thousands of our supporters were working on the ground to ensure the success of  PR. For the first time, the Indians, a minority community, embarked on bulk  voting in the country&#8217;s electoral process. They voted against BN and  Umno.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Indians proved that a minority community&#8217;s bulk votes had the power  to make a change. The Chinese were traditionally fence sitters. Their voting  pattern are dependent on the political and economic climate. They knew they only  could increase the number of opposition parliamentarians but can&#8217;t possibly  change the government. When the Chinese saw Indians changing trend, they knew  the time had come for a change.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Seasoned politician, Lim Kit  Siang even acknowledged that Indians can make a<strong> <a href=\"\/opinions\/77889\">difference<\/a><\/strong> in more than 50 parliamentary  constituencies.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But I&#8217;m not sure about the Malays because they were given  the impression that Hindraf comprised a group of fanatics out to topple a Malay  government.<br \/>\nWe now hope that the Malays would have a better understanding of  Hindraf&#8217;s struggle and we can all work together in the next general election to  effect a change at federal level.\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The majority of Indians have worked and  voted for BN faithfully for 50 years. I think the Umno government had taken the  Indian support and votes for granted. The government has been disrespectful to  Indian votes, rights and feelings by continuing to oppress and suppress  them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The best way to teach Umno and BN a political lesson is to hurt  them at the ballot box. After all the Umno government leaders were arrogant  enough to frequently challenge the people to demonstrate their grouses and  unhappiness through the ballot boxes.They took their electoral victories for  granted. So Hindraf called on Indians to<strong> <a href=\"\/opinions\/80338\">vote<\/a> <\/strong>against the Umno government and its  hegemony.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Hindraf has played a decisive role in changing the  country&#8217;s political landscape. Has it addressed the inequality among races that  you were seeking?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">No, because the same BN is ruling the federal  government. The Umno dominated government has been throwing craps and scraps  here and there. But it has done nothing worthy. The Pakatan states too, have  done little for the Indians.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Thus far Pakatan states have not formulated,  let alone implemented, any worthy long term policies benefiting Indians. Pakatan  leaders claim that they are new to state administration and are not in control  of the federal government.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">They have been in power for 15 months now and  the Pakatan states cannot go on singing the same tune. They are duty bound to  carry out constructive policies to upgrade the Indians. <strong><a href=\"\/news\/79340\">Pakatan states <\/a><\/strong>must do something worthy for  Indians before the general election.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Lately though, it seems  Hindraf and Pakatan are having an uneasy relationship.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hindraf  will remain <strong><a href=\"\/letters\/109217\">apolitical<\/a>.<\/strong> We will  point political mistakes committed by both BN and Pakatan. Just because Indians  supported and voted for Pakatan, Hindraf will not remain idle if the coalition  made a mistake.We must speak out. It&#8217;s better for us to speak out now than  later. Pakatan states must understand that they have a responsibility to help  the marginalised minority communities, especially Indians. They will have to  rule with justice, equality and fairness to all. Currently there are rifts  between Hindraf and Pakatan in certain states, especially in Penang on Kampung  Buah Pala.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>What about the Kampung Buah Pala  issue?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><\/strong><br \/>\nFirstly, DAP leaders had promised to <a href=\"\/letters\/109069\"><strong>safeguard the village<\/strong><\/a> for the  residents before and after the general election.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">DAP acknowledges the  land deal was a fraud committed by the previous BN government but why are they  now siding the developers and the Koperasi who are part of the fraud?<br \/>\nAnd  it&#8217;s puzzling that the DAP government accepted the balance payment of the land  premium and effected the actual land transfer of Kampung Buah Pala.\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This  happened even after the DAP government was advised against it by a senior lawyer  and its own leaders have promised to secure the village land for the residents  prior to the last elections. The <a href=\"\/news\/108290\"><strong>DAP  government<\/strong><\/a> may have condemned the previous Gerakan government for  alienating the land.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But now it is colluding with the land owner Koperasi  Pegawai Pegawai Kanan Kerajaan Pulau Pinang and developer Nusmetro Venture (P)  Sdn Bhd to evict the residents from their own land.We are shocked. We are  shocked that the same socialist DAP leaders, who are supposed to champion the  cause of poor and the marginalised communities, are now collaborating with  capitalists.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>What you think the DAP government should do  now?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Simple. They have to undo it, with a mere stroke of a pen.  Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has the power under the National Land Code and Land  Acquisition Act to <a href=\"\/news\/107932\"><strong>acquire the land<\/strong><\/a> for the villagers and undo the unjust.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He is dragging his feet and  deliberately refusing to exercise his power. He is also justifying his inaction  by lamenting that he had to spend millions to acquire the land. First he claimed  it was RM150 million and now he had lowered the sum to RM100 million to acquire  the land. How did he pluck out those sums? According to the land law, an  independent land administrator shall assess the land value.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">So how did a  responsible chief minister come up with such sums? The land was sold for RM3.21  million. The state government could buy back the land for the same amount or  even lesser. The residents are not squatters. They are rightful owners of the  land. It was stolen from them. If the DAP government fail to acquire the land  for the villagers, I think the Indians in Penang will punish them in the next  general election. Hindraf will be duty bound to expose DAP&#8217;s inaction to Indians  in Penang and nationwide. The party should not hold Hindraf responsible for  it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Will the Kampung Buah Pala crisis affect the DAP in long run? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The ball is in DAP&#8217;s court. DAP can choose to maintain its  position or the party can<a href=\"\/news\/108322\"> <strong>forsake  justice<\/strong><\/a> and fairness. If the DAP allows the village to be  demolished, it will be the beginning of its demise. Guan Eng will be another  Khir Toyo.<br \/>\n<strong><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>There seems to be concerted effort in  the media and in blogs to attack Hindraf, you and Uthayakumar personally over  the village crisis. Any comment?<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Normally I don&#8217;t read blogs but  I have heard criticisms leveled at us. I have read this in Pakatan, and <a href=\"\/news\/107645\"><strong>DAP linked websites<\/strong><\/a>. Obviously these  mails were posted by DAP supporters. I would like to stress here that I was  inspired by DAP senior leader Lim Kit Siang&#8230;inspired by his book &#8216;Time Bombs  in Malaysia.&#8217; I was inspired by Karpal Singh (<em>right)<\/em>. Indeed DAP&#8217;s  political struggle over the years has inspired and shape up my political  thinking.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But if the DAP commits a wrong or  an unjust act then I&#8217;m duty bound to point out the mistake. It is the bloggers  fantasy to accuse me of being bought over by BN and collaborating with Umno to  comeback to Malaysia. I&#8217;m not a politician. I have forsaken all that I had, to  fight for justice and truth which is often is buried and clouded by the rich and  powerful.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">These die hard supporters of DAP should in fact find out the  truth and advise their party to act in accordance to what is right and just. But  such criticisms will not deter me. I will continue to oppose any form of  injustice and unfairness.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Certain DAP leaders are allegedly  touchy whenever criticisms are levelled at them. They allegedly use bloggers and  ghost writers to launch personal attacks on their critics. What you think about  it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I think some DAP leaders are instigating certain ghost  writers and bloggers to attack their critics by feeding wrong information, facts  and figures. I don&#8217;t think this propaganda would benefit the DAP in the long  run, like how the pro-establishment mainstream media had not really benefited  Umno. People finally realised that Umno controlled the mainstream media,  spreading lies and disseminating false information.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">People have now  refused to believe the mainstream media. Eventually this will happen to DAP.  Just because bloggers played a big role in creating awareness among the people  in the last general election, it doesn&#8217;t mean that the people will continuously  believe bloggers. Malaysians from all walks of life are politically matured and  they can see lies.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Maybe in the short term DAP could succeed. Eventually  they will say all these lies were spread and instigated by DAP leaders. I just  hope DAP can come out of this denial syndrome and address issues intelligently &#8211;  after all I&#8217;m one of those Malaysians wishing and praying to see PR take over  the country from the clutches of BN.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Premier Najib Razak has come  up with a 1Malaysia slogan. Any comments on it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I noticed that  each time a new prime minister comes to power, he comes up with a punchy slogan  to woo the people. Dr Mahathir came up with &#8216;cekap bersih amanah&#8217;, then Abdullah  Ahmad Badawi with &#8216;Islam Hadhari&#8217;, now <strong><a href=\"\/letters\/105403\">Najib<\/a> <\/strong>with &#8216;1Malaysia.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Najib is  talking about 1Malaysia but it two systems, one system for the Malays and  another for non-Malays.<br \/>\nThe 1Malaysia concept is obviously a non-starter when  the government runs two systems. If he is serious in realising 1Malaysia, first  and foremost Najib has to educate and revamp Umno and its members, and stop  propagating the Malay supremacy agenda.<br \/>\nIf he can do that then all his  1Malaysia programmes would be successful.\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Can the Pakatan states  work to meet Hindraf&#8217;s 18-point demand?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Maybe not all of them.  The state governments are vested with certain powers to carry out policies that  could meet our demands. For example, the federal government claims that it  cannot make Tamil schools fully aided because most of them were sitting on  private lands. Land issues are under the purview of state  governments.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Mentri Besars and Chief Ministers can acquire these  privately-owned Tamil school lands under the National Land Code and Land  Acquisition Act, and handover the lands to the federal government. Thereafter,  we will go after the federal government if it fails to make the schools as fully  aided.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">On the religious aspect, the state governments can enact  amendments to the State Islamic Laws to provide greater freedom for religion.  Additionally they can gazette all temples that existed before independence in  1957 as places of worship. Pakatan state governments are vested with the power  to do that.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">They could also open up the state government policies to  include all marginalised societies to be included in the mainstream economic  upward mobility programmes and get all races equally entitled to all state  economic and development projects. If the state governments refused to use their  power then there is no difference between them and Umno  governments.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>How can the BN government meet Hindraf 18-point  demand?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For a start, the BN government could hold a <strong><a href=\"\/news\/104227\">dialogue<\/a> <\/strong>with Hindraf, which we have been  asking from the very beginning. The dialogue can be the forum to explore various  ways and means to resolve the plight of the Indian community.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Do  you think Indians would stay with Pakatan in the next  elections?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It depends on how Pakatan leaders address the Indian  issues. They have to address the problems objectively and not adopt the Umno  method of employing mandores to address the Indian issues.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">BN is already  working out a strategy to win back the Indian voters and thus gain the 50 odd  lost parliament seats whereas Pakatan are in their new-found shell of fiefdom in  their respective states as menteri besars and are not looking beyond their  states.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The four Pakatan states have to prove themselves as leading the  onslaught to capture the federal administration in the next general election.  Unfortunately they are not addressing the issues let alone resolving them. From  2010, I believe Umno-led BN are going to implement major strategies to win back  the Indian voters.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Indian grassroots are already complaining about  the inaction of Pakatan states<strong> <\/strong>mainly Selangor, Kedah and  Penang. My sincere hope is that Pakatan does not make the<strong> <a href=\"\/news\/101723\">same mistake<\/a><\/strong> BN did, that is living in denial.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Pakatan states have to show they are people-friendly governments, easily  accessible and work for people. Immediate and simple problems that have existed  from the BN rule has to be resolved or else I can&#8217;t see how they could maintain  the trust of Indian voters. Indians are politically mature these days compared  to few years ago.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Would you prefer Pakatan take over the federal  administration in the next general election?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Yes. But it is not  going to be easy. Pakatan national and grassroots leaders have to stop their  infighting and present themselves as the future government. A shadow cabinet is  essential. Alternative national policies have to be formulated and presented to  the people.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There is no point talking about change when the people are  not given the opportunity to envisage the change. You can&#8217;t expect the people to  fantasise the change without concrete plans and policies. The current four  <strong><a href=\"\/letters\/100562\">Pakatan<\/a>&#8211;<\/strong>controlled states must  present itself as a truly democratic and people friendly governments.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The interview appears in Malaysiakini. Second part to appear tomorrow. The problem with the interview is the status of suit, which Waytha claims as being in &#8220;status-quo&#8221;. Meaning its still a suit and no writ has been served on the defendants. So, what&#8217;s next. At least he should clarified on the next steps &#8211; continue [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[21,22],"class_list":["post-5399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-indian","tag-hindraf","tag-waytha"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5399"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5405,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5399\/revisions\/5405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}